Sound-record



E. E. NOVOTNY.

SOUND RECORD.

APPLICATION FILED IuLY 2l, I92o. RENEWED .Ia/IY 3, I92I.

1,398, 145. Patented Nov. 22, 1921.

INVENTUR BY @A @A7/VWL' /1111 ATTORNEYS UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EMIL E. NOVOTNY, F LOGAN, PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR T0 JOHN STOGDELL STORES, 0F PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

SOUND-RECORD.

Application led July 21, 1920, Serial No. 397,927. Renewed Hay 3, 1921.

To all it may concern.:

Be it known that I, EMIL E. Novo'rNY, a

y citizen of the United States, and resident of Logan, Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sound-Records, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the manufacture of sound records, such as are used in connection with phonographs and similar machines.

In the present instance it is my purpose to provide an exceedingly thin, light record of great strength and durability which may be manufactured and marketed in vast quantities at a minimum expense, thereb rendering it particularly adapted for t e reproduction of popular music, speeches, lectures and the like. -Furthermore, due to its lightness and lack of bulk thisv record will occupy but very little space in shipping and -1'iling, and may be sent through the mails,

or by express at a relatively low cost when compared with the ordinary record. Furthermore, .owing to the peculiar physical characteristics of my record it is practically unbreakable and therefore the loss incident to the destruction of the ordinary brittle records in packing, transportation, and actual usage is practically eliminated.

With the above recited object and others of a similar nature in view my invention consists in the construction, combination and arrangement of parts Set forth in and fallinv within the scope of the appended claims.

Fi 2, x

ig. 4, is asimilar view of a modified form of reinforcing late.

Referring now to t e accompanying draw; ings in detail,the letter A indicates an intermediate or central .reinforcing p-late, which is preferably composed of metal, such as a very thin flexible sheet of lead, tin, steel,

Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 22, 1921.

Serial No. 466,535.

aluminum or the like, this plate being preferably of a th1ckness of approximately one one thousandth of au inch. In Fig. 3 I 1 -ha-ve shown this plate A as in the nature of a solid sheet, with the exception, of course, of the central spindle opening, and in Fig. 4 wherein a modified form of the plate is exhibited it will be noted that it is in the`l` nature, of a perforated or open mesh sheet, designated at. A. This reinforcing plate A, which 1n its preferred form is substantially solid or imperforate, is, in the manuto be a composition of a phenol andaldehyde condensation product mixed with barium sulfate, and the whole reduced by the use of a' suitabl solvent such as alcohol to a varnish-like consistency. Of course, instead of using this particular condensation product cement I may employ any meansjor securin the other 'layers or stratato this central reinforcing plate. To each side of the cement-coated reinforcing plate I a ply a sheet of material shown at C. The slieets C are preferably composed of a fibrous material, such as a thin layer of straw board, chip board or the like, impregnated, but not fully saturated, with a condensation product formed from phenol and an aldehyde, and which as is well known is capable of, reacting and hardening and setting under heat and pressure. There are a number of such condensation products on the market, some commercial forms being known as bakelite and condensite, and these are well adapted for my purpose. I Sdo not fully saturate the fiber sheets, because I want to avoid the possibility of the Huid-like condensation product oozing or iowing out of the fiber during the impression period, 100

as when the record is being molded. ,The fiber sheets may be so impregnated by dipvpingjthe same in a bath of the liquid or fiuid of phenolic condensation product which is about the consistency 'of a thin varnishn Af-j 105 ter the fiber Sheets have been so dip d they may be dried in an oven'to drive o the solvent, and tocause a partial reaction of the condensation product, `causing the same to partly harden and set, but not to a complete final form. After the fiber impregnated sheets have been thus dried out they are att-ached to the central reinforcing plate A by thecement shown atB and as above described. In order to insure the proper adherence of the fiber impregnated sheets C to the central reinforcing plate, after they have been applied, the sheets thus assembled may be placed in a pressand sufficient pressure exerted to cause the uniform and adequate union of the fiber sheets to the central plate. The outer face of each impregnated sheet C is then provided with a layer or coating', indicated at D. These intermediate layers or coatings D may be, for the sake of convenience termed barrier coats, and act to prevent the absorption of tones, particularly over-tones and under-tones by the fiber sheets C, during the playing of a selection, and thereby insure full, clear and resonant tones. These coatings D also act to prevent the penetration of the material of the exterior or face coatings E into the bod of the fiber sheets C. Both the interme iate coatings D andthe exterior coatings E are composed of a cementitious material, such as a s nthetic resin in the nature of a condensatlon product formed by the reaction of a phenol and an aldehyde, and the commercial products bakelite and condensite heretofore mentioned may be used for this purpose. However, it is desirable that the intermediate coatings be made much harder and denser, and more compact than the exterior coatings E, and conse uently in preparing4 the cementitious -materlal for the intermediate coatings D Imix therewith barlum sulfate,l preferably in proportion of one part of barium sulfate to two parts of phenolic gum. Of course, when the coatings are applied the cementitious material is of a varnish-like nature, and will subsequently harden and set under heat and pressure as is well known. The barium sulfate will harden the cementitious material of the intermediate coatings D to such an extent that the layers will be exceedingly dense and compact. The intermediate coatings D are applied by dipping the article into a bath of the synthetic resinous varnish, and after' a relatively thin coating has thus been received by the article it may be placed in an oven and subjected to a degree of heat, say, two hundred tothreehundred degrees F., for a sufficient length of time, say from ten Ato sixty minutes, for the purpose of dryi the coatings by driving off the solvent, an at the same time partially hardening and setting the coatings, but not to final infusible form. Subsequently the article at this stage of its manufacture may now be dipped in another bath of cementitious material, such as a synthetic resin heretofore mentioned, but of a richer mixture than is used for the \5 intermediate coatings D, and which richer `setting of the blank completed.

mixture lacks the barium sulfate or hardening agent, a quantity of filler, such as lamp black being mixed with the phenolic varnish which is to form the outer coatings E. The article is then again placed in an oven and heated at from two hundred to three hundred degrees F., for from ten to sixty minutes t0 dry' out the coatings E and to partially harden and set the same to a nonflowing condition, but at this stage the coatings are still capable of taking molding impressions. It is to be understood that the fiber sheets C and the coatings D and E are exceedingly thin, for example, each fiber sheet may be of a thickness of about eight one thousandths of an inch, the intermediate coatings D may be of a thickness of one one thousandth of an inch and the exterior coatings E may be of 'a thickness kof two one thousandthsV of an inch. VThe blank thus prepared may now be placed in contact with the ordinary record matrix and subjected to heat and pressure against the same for a sufiicient length of time, say IYfor about one to five' minutes, to mold the sound grooves shown at F in the faces of therecord blank, and at the same time cause the hardening and settin of thesynthetic resinous material to its nal form.

The result will be a sound record which is exceedingly thin and light, and which possesses a certain degree of flexibility, so that, in some instances as where a thin, lead sheet is used for reinforcement, the record may be rolled and shipped in a tube or cylinder, if desired. The record will maintain its flat form however under weather conditions, as the possibility of warping is eliminated due to the thinness of the coatings and the metallic reinforcement. In the complete record the outer coatings E will be found to be of a thin, skin-like nature possessing greater tensile strength than the intermediate coating, but not so hard.

Such a record is not subject to breakage,

under shocks and jars as is the case with ordinary, brittle records, nor will the sound grooves thereof be abraded or cut down by a steel needle to the same extent as grooves in an ordinary record, this being due to the tough, tenacious, skin-like character of the exterior coatings or layers E. ,l

If desired, the cementitious or synthetic resinous material contained in the blank, may be hardened to such an extent, prior to the molding of the record itself, that little or no further reaction will be required at the time of molding to reduce the blank to its final hard and set form. By so prehardening the blank it only requires heating for a short time during the molding against the sound matrix to enable the necessary impression to be made and the hardenin and onsequently the time actually required for molding the record a inst the matrix may be tially heated condition, thus releasing thev matrix for the molding of another blank. Consequently the output of a matrix may be greatly increased.

As above stated in Fig. 4 I have shown at Aa modified form of reinforcing plate, in this instance the plate being of a reticulated nature or provided with perforations or openings. This will enable the roduction of a slightly lighter record, an at the same time during compression the material may flow through the openings and tend to more firmly unite oranchor the reinforcing plate in the center of the record.

While I have herein shown and described certain referred embodiments of my in-l vention wish it to be understood that I do not limit myself to all the precise details set forth by way of illustration, as modification and variationl may be made without d'eparting from the spirit of the invention or exceeding the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim 1s: ll. A sound record comprising a metallic reinforcing member, a fiber sheet impregnated with a hard andset synthetic resln united with said member, and a grooved face section with a hard and set synthetic resin imposed upon the fibrous sheet.

2. A sound record comprising a central reinforcing plate, a fibrous sheet united with said plate, a relatively hard layer of synthetic resin imposed upon the fibrous sheet,

and a relatively soft coating of synthetic resin imposed upon the relatively hard layer, said relatively soft layer having sound.

grooves formed therein.

A sound record comprisinga central reinforcing plate, fibrous sheets united with opposite sides of the reinforcing plate, said sheets having hard and set synthetic resin incorporated therein, barrier layers of relatively hard synthetic resin imposed upon the fibrous sheets, and exterior coatings of relatively soft synthetic resin imposed upon the barrier layers and having sound grooves formed therein.

Signed at New York city, in the county of New York, and State of New York, this 15th day of July, A. D. 1920.

EMIL E. NOVOTN Y. 

